Ten local governments in Kogi State have been submerged by flood in the last 72 hours, leading to the creation of 33 camps for the victims.
The State Governor, Yahaya Bello, said this on Monday while addressing journalists after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja.
He said that the state has been taking proactive measures to evacuate residents to higher grounds, as well as provide more security in the IDP camps.
Several other states including Niger, have also witnessed severe flooding rendering many homeless and killing several others.
Subsequently, the President ordered the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), to declare the situation a “national disaster”.
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Following the order, the Director-General of NEMA, Mustapha Maihaja, inaugurated five Emergency Operation Centres (EOC) to facilitate prompt search and rescue operations as well as humanitarian support in the 12 states worst affected by flooding.
The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) had warned that the steady rise in water levels and weather forecast in the coming weeks have put Nigeria at risk of witnessing a recurrence of the catastrophic flooding similar to what it witnessed in 2012.
